BTPN

Reaching the “unbanked” in a fast-growing nation.

Indonesia is home to around 6% of the world’s unbanked population, and just 20% of the country’s 250 million people have access to a bank account. That’s a disservice that local bank BTPN hopes to reverse with its mobile banking program BTPN Wow, which lets unbanked Indonesians access financial services through their mobile phone instead of bank branches.

Launched in March 2015, BTPN Wow now has around 700,000 customers and, just as importantly, 35,000 agents who are playing the roles of bank tellers at tiny stalls or grocery stores. By next year, the goal is to enroll five million customers. With other banks in the country pushing their own mobile banking services, the benefits to the country could be monumental: Deloitte estimates that a 20% increase in financial inclusion could lead to an additional 1.7 million new jobs in Indonesia.